Principles To Live By

I am republishing my first two nonfiction books. The Love of Devotion is now available again. I am still editing The Love of Being Loving which was my first book. It took 8 years to get that book into my hands. I wrote it over 3 years, then (after problems) it sat in the drawer for another 3 years, then (at the right time) I took it up again, learned how to publish and, finally, it became a published book. Here is Chapter 3 of The Love of Being Loving with all the original quotes that helped and guided me at that time. They were my staple diet until such time as they were absorbed into my consciousness and I no longer needed to intentionally think about them.

THE LOVE OF BEING LOVNG

Chapter 3: The Eleven Principles of Metapsychiatry

Thou shalt have no other interests before the good of God, which is spiritual blessedness.

The vast majority of people live their life with innumerable interests before spiritual good and that accounts for the unhappiness that the vast majority of people feel at their most honest soul level. Good relationships, material abundance, fulfilling work, enjoyable and enthralling interests, and glowing health are not excluded by having our undivided attention on the spiritual path. They are an accompaniment to it. For the sincere seeker, qualities such as peace, assurance, gratitude, love, and spiritual good are always of primary and supreme importance.

Take no thought for what should be or what should not be; seek ye first to know the good of God, which already is.

Dr. Hora would often tell his students that in order to have a more peaceful and harmonious life, we need to lose the shoulds and should-nots from our vocabulary. Many arguments, hurt feelings, and personal stalemates would quickly be resolved by the realisation of this principle. Tightly held ultimatums, self-righteous demands, personal tyrannies, and uncompromising interpersonal rules are the fuel of family dysfunction. Freedom and respect go a long way to dissolving family tensions. They help us to release our own interpersonal expectations and they protect us from the stated and silent demands of others. Families frequently have strongly held shoulds and should-nots about many issues. Do we not see the bitter result of this repeatedly? Neither be tyrannised nor tyrannise anyone else.

When spiritual light is turned to the picture of family life, we see things differently. The sweetest families are those where everyone is free to come and go; where everyone is allowed and encouraged to explore their purpose, their best desires, and their individual expression in the world. Much damage is done in ordinary families in the name of loyalty, which is mostly guilt, and under the guise of love, when nothing could be further from the truth. Emotional and spiritual maturity means that we have outgrown our family of birth and its invisible should conditions. We still love our birth families. In fact, we will be better at loving them. However, we will have outgrown the unconscious desire for the love and approval from, generally, less than enlightened family members which always puts us in a vulnerable and detrimental position.

If we take no thought for what should be and what should not be, it does not mean that we will become lazy, selfish, undisciplined, and chaotic. Rather, we will have an overriding sense of the Divine structure and order. Excellence and good character will be driven by the love of goodness and progress, not by fear. Our freedom and peace of mind will be assured. Far from being forgotten or overlooked, we will be loved for our growing graciousness.

There is no interaction anywhere, there is only omniaction everywhere.

Dr. Hora defined interaction as thinking about what others are thinking about what we are thinking. Interaction is the basis of ordinary human life and it is the prime meaning of illness and other problems. Problems are predominantly interactional. From the Divine perspective, there is only omniaction. To discover this is our spiritual life mission. It gives us our freedom from the human dream. It does not mean that we become a recluse. We increasingly become a transparency for universal Love, blessing whoever comes into our range of influence without the negative side-effects of interactional thinking.

Yes is good, but no is also good.

It is human nature to want what we want, how and when we want it. However, as we progress, we learn that insisting on what we want is a great source of frustration and distraction. The remedy is as simple and as difficult as saying, I may not know what is best for me or someone else or the greater plan. We relax into the flow of life, trusting the Divine heart.

God helps those who let him.

To let God help us requires humility and the learned assurance that God is our best bet. This principle can be used consciously whenever choices and decisions confront us. To let God help us means to suspend all calculative thinking, anxiety, worry, and mental agonising about what should be and what should not be. We need the courage which dares to not know in order to discern what the all-knowing knows.

If you know what, you know how.

The sixth principle is a reminder to steer clear of operational thinking. If we know that we are deeply and completely loved by Life then we will know how to let it flow through us freely. If we know that the essential force of Life is immensely beautiful and endlessly creative then we will know how to follow our inner guidance. If we know that our true being is spiritually perfect, complete, and pure then we will be healthy, well-balanced, productive, and happy.

Nothing comes into experience uninvited.

This principle does not mean that we purposely and consciously invite suffering into our life. Nor does it mean that we are to blame for the, perhaps, less than desirable state of our affairs. It means that the thoughts we entertain in consciousness inevitably draw certain experiences. The first intelligent question, What is the meaning of what seems to be? is based on this metaphysical principle. Thoughts translate into experience. Asking the meaning of problems is simply translating experiences back into thoughts. Once our thoughts are understood, we can then alter them, be healed, and grow in our conscious connection with divine Truth.

Problems are lessons designed for our edification.

Since nothing comes into experience uninvited, it spontaneously follows that our problems have very specific messages for our spiritual development. Without the pain of problems, very few of us would be interested in giving up our human attachments and ignorance.

Reality cannot be experienced or imagined; it can, however, be realized.

Reality cannot be grasped by calculative, imaginative or emotive thinking. It must be discovered by the soul. The soul in us which recognises Reality is part of the greater Soul which is, itself, Reality.

The understanding of what really is, abolishes all that seems to be.

This principle forms the basis of spiritual healing.

Do not show your pearls to unreceptive minds, for they will demean them.

As we grow in spiritual wisdom, we become naturally astute in our conversations. We do not provoke other people’s anger and ridicule by saying truths that ignorant minds are incapable of understanding, and will possibly react aggressively towards in order to protect their own untruthful life force. We develop an intuitive sense of precisely what to say and when to say it. Wise individuals often say very little but what they say hits the mark. Such remarks often remain in the mind of the recipient for a long time, possibly, a lifetime. Wisdom carries power.

RELATED QUOTES

God only asks one thing – our complete attention. Thomas Hora

The word “should” is a tyrannical one and implies an endeavour to exercise personal control and influence over others. Thomas Hora

Blessed are the shouldless for their lives shall be effortless, efficient and effective. Thomas Hora

Blessed are the shouldless for their lives will be fussless. Thomas Hora

Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. The Bible

The principle of harmonious living is as follows; take no thought for what should be or what should not be. Seek ye first to know the harmony and joy of soul existence, the good of God. Thomas Hora

When we say that there is no interaction anywhere, we mean that a great deal of suffering comes from expecting love from other people and building our lives on that idea. If we are living in that context or with that mindset, then we are vulnerable, insecure and easily disturbed. But if we understand love as the essence of God expressing itself through us freely as goodness, intelligence, generosity and assurance, then love is a spiritual sea, a medium in which we ‘live and move and have our being’ [Acts 17:28]. No one can deprive us of the happiness and assurance of knowing that we are living expressions of divine love. Thomas Hora

When we are habitually involved in contemplating our relationships with other people there is static in consciousness. This interferes with inspiration, with creativity, with healing, with peace, assurance, gratitude, and love. Thomas Hora

Enlightened man neither seeks interaction nor shuns it. To him it is just a dream of life as a person. Thomas Hora

Unenlightened life is characterized by a great deal of intentionality. We want and we don’t want. A beholder doesn’t intend anything. He is just glowing with the constant awareness of Love-Intelligence, filling the universe with its omnipresence. Thomas Hora

In proportion that we understand our inseparability from the good of God, from God’s presence, we will be able to let go of the compulsion to be in control. Thomas Hora

To many, this may seem like foolish passivity, or even irresponsible “do nothingness.” But, in fact, this is neither negligence, nor apathy, nor passiveness, nor aggressiveness. It is alert reverent responsiveness which forms the basis of enlightened, creative and intelligent decisiveness. Thomas Hora

Nothing comes into experience uninvited. Thoughts entertained in consciousness express themselves either in words or actions, and they have a tendency to attract corresponding experiences. Therefore, this can also be called the law of correspondence. Thomas Hora

Existence apart from God is an illusion. The right understanding of our selfhood is based on the realization of our inseparability from the divine Mind, the creative Principle of the universe. Through this realization we discover our true self-identity in the context of God. Thomas Hora

We are not afraid of problems. We welcome them; we face them and use them as counterpoints for the realization of truth. Thus, not only are we healed of problems, but we also make a step forward on the way to enlightenment. Thomas Hora

Love can only be realized. What does it mean to realize something? It means to become conscious of the reality of something. When we realize love, we discover that love really is; and that which is, does not have to be produced since it already is. We become aware of it by the quality of our presence. Such presence has a healing, harmonizing, enlightening impact on whatever situation we happen to be participating in. Thomas Hora

We must learn to maintain a constant, conscious awareness of the perfect harmony of divine reality. Thomas Hora

Only the right realization of the one Mind will give us peace and enable us to look at the battleground and see that everything, everywhere, is peaceful. There’s a bloody battle going on all the time if we judge by appearances. But when we judge with ‘enlightened judgment,’ we can discern that everything, everywhere, is peaceful and good and intelligent and harmonious. There is no conflict; there is no strife – there is only one Mind, and this Mind is in control of the whole universe. Right where strife seems to be, there is harmony because the one Mind is in charge, regardless of appearances to the contrary. Thomas Hora

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom and with all thy getting get understanding. The Bible

6 Replies to “Principles To Live By”

Thank you, Donna, for the lovely understanding you bring to the 11 Principles of Metapsychiatry in this excerpt from your book. They are clear, short, and precise. Beautiful. Helpful. Metapsychiatry needs to be known in the world–it is a transforming and healing teaching for those who find it, alleviating humanity from the universal suffering and tribulations we all experience in this imperfect world.
Your spiritual sister,
Susan

Thank you, Donna, for the lovely understanding you bring to the 11 Principles of Metapsychiatry in this excerpt from your book. They are clear, short, and precise. Beautiful. Helpful. Metapsychiatry needs to be known in the world–it is a transforming and healing teaching for those who find it, alleviating humanity from the universal suffering and tribulations we all experience in this imperfect world.
Your spiritual sister,
Susan

Yes, I am on my second copy of “Beyond the Dream,” and, like yours, it is pretty dog-eared and battle scared. It travelled with me to a lot of places in this world! Thank God for it and for Metapsychiatry.